Anchor bases of the type described herein are plastic parts used primarily by the electronics industry. For example, an anchor base may be pushed through a hole in a chassis in order to mount something upon the chassis. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,577 shows an anchor base which may be used to mount a printed circuit board or other suitable device on a chassis. This leads to the development of a large family of different structures which may be used together with the anchor base in order to solve a great many problems, as is illustrated by a number of the figures in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,577.
On the other hand, these anchor bases are not as versatile as they could be because a number of problems are encountered in their use. For example, there may be many reasons why one would not want to punch a mounting hole in a chassis, as when the chassis is a wall of a closed container, such as a radio or TV receiver housing. A hole would then allow moisture, dust, or electronic interference to enter the housing. Or perhaps, the same chassis might have to support a number of alternative printed circuit boards of different sizes, which would require either custom hole punchings or many useless pre-punched holes for mounting alternative sizes.
Still another consideration for or against the use of a conventionally mounted anchor base is found on the opposite side of the chassis, because the anchor base projects through the chassis and sticks out the other side. Therefore, it would interfere with setting the chassis on top of another surface, for example. Or, if the other side of the chassis is the outside of a housing, as mentioned above, any anchor base projecting through the housing would be unsightly. In some cases, it could lead to a hazardous condition if something should press against the outside of the housing and dislodge the anchor base and any component held thereby, perhaps causing a short circuit, or the like.